Brain cancer patient going home after Texas Children's had invoked futile-care law

Published 12:01 am, Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Photo: Cody Duty, Staff

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Rosslyn Allen holds a photo of her son Jordan and his father Samuel taken before Jordan was diagnosed with brain cancer as he is seen in the background at Atrium Medical Center Monday, Aug. 22, 2011, in Stafford, Tx. (Cody Duty / Houston Chronicle ) less

Rosslyn Allen holds a photo of her son Jordan and his father Samuel taken before Jordan was diagnosed with brain cancer as he is seen in the background at Atrium Medical Center Monday, Aug. 22, 2011, in ... more

Photo: Cody Duty, Staff

Brain cancer patient going home after Texas Children's had invoked futile-care law

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A Sugar Land brain cancer patient was discharged to the care of his parents Monday, nearly two months after Texas Children's Hospital announced it would invoke the state's futile-care law and remove his life support.

Jordan Allen, 14, who is vegetative but no longer ventilator dependent, left Atrium Medical Center, the Stafford facility that took him in after Texas Children's in late June informed the boy's parents they considered it "medically inappropriate" to treat him.

"We're glad to be taking Jordan home, to get him back to familiar surroundings," said Samuel Allen, Jordan's father. "They've done a great job here, but I think he'll improve even more at home."

Dr. Shatish Patel, Atrium's chief of staff, described Allen's prognosis as "guarded." He said the boy suffers from deprivation of oxygen to the brain but has improved in the last couple weeks, responding to stimuli and tracking nearby movement with his eyes, neither of which he was doing when he arrived. He was weaned off the ventilator two weeks ago.

The case in late June became the latest conflict involving the controversial Texas law that allows hospitals to discontinue treatment against a family's wishes if they deem it unethical. The law, passed in 1999, requires the hospital's ethics committee to concur with the opinion and the family to have 10 days to look for a transfer.

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Citing federal privacy laws, Texas Children's declined to comment about the latest on Allen, who doctors haven't seen since his transfer June 30. In a statement at the time, officials said "our collective hearts go out to our patient and his family as they face this agonizing situation."

Allen's battle dates to August of last year, when he was diagnosed with inoperable glioblastoma, a particularly lethal cancer that kills up to 90 percent of pediatric patients within five years. Allen received radiation and chemotherapy at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, but isn't currently on any cancer treatment.

Allen's parents said Monday God would provide his only cancer treatment now. Patel said the most recent tests show the tumor is not growing.

Allen's parents also said their son's recent improvement is like what occurred at M.D. Anderson last year. They said he was vegetative for a period, began showing signs of life and then awoke one day. He eventually went home, but in May collapsed and went into cardiac arrest there. He was rushed to Texas Children's, which two weeks later scheduled the ethics committee meeting that resulted in the plan to withdraw treatment.

BlueCross BlueShield of Alabama will provide home health-care assistance to Jordan eight hours a day for two weeks, after which his parents will take care of all his needs. That includes nourishment through a feeding tube.